After being on a hiatus for some time, I have started again with scalemodelling. I am working at present on Meng’s Panther D and my quest for accuracy keeps me wondering on a potential discrepancy with the bottomplate of the kit.
The “bottomplate extensions” that meet with the hull side plates are different in length on the right and left side. I am wondering if this is a mistake on the account of Meng, or if in reality the Panther D had this feature? If it is a mistake it can of course easily be fixed with some thin plasticard to make them even in length. The sideplates are dryfitted, but the fit is tight so the discrepancy is not related to this in case you are wondering. The picture below best explains what I am asking about…
Yes, when looking at the two figures (+/- 0.6mm vs. 0.25mm) it really is a minor difference which I normally would not even bother with since these are minor tolerances. Yet in reality it is noticeable in this case. By all means it is not a deal breaker for me… definitely a nice kit and for sure a nit-picky question from my end. Nevertheless since I haven’t glued the sidewalls down yet I can still easily add thin plastic strip to make both sides equal.
So in the end I am just wondering if this is a “plastic tolerance thing” or did the Panther D in reality also had both sides unequal?
I’ve got the “A” version on the bench at the moment. And I’ve got the same thing too. I just never noticed it until you pointed it out. Good eyes !
I did have a minor fit issue AND it was probably “operator error”, after assembly of most of the lower hull I mounted the rear plate and had a little “step” of .4mm or .02". A couple of strips of Evergreen and a little sanding did the trick.
I’m curious if that’s something that you’ll experience or was it something I did wrong. Everything else seems square.
BTW, Welcome back to the bench !
